Guardians of the Galaxy superstar Dave Bautista who plays Drax in the Marvel Cinematic Universe confirmed the existence of an Eternal Warrior movie.
Bautista answered a fan’s question about the Eternal Warrior project and if we would see the Valiant Entertainment character on the big screen soon.
Bautista gave a surprised response, “Glad you asked cuz I’m really excited about EW. We are currently working to get the script fan worthy and then we’ll be full on from there.”
Glad you asked cuz I'm really excited about EW. We are currently working to get the script fan worthy and then we'll be full on from there. https://t.co/aHO7DVPBVY
— Dave Bautista (@DaveBautista) August 1, 2017
The Hollywood Reporter noted Valiant declined to comment on “the existence of an Eternal Warrior movie in development.”
However, Bautista’s tweet speaks for itself.
Valiant does have an Archer & Armstrong movie in development, which is being developed by Terry Rossio and directed by Ruben Fleischer. They are also working on a Shadowman project. Along with these two in-house projects they have also partnered with Sony for Harbinger and Bloodshot films, both of which are being scripted by Arrival’s Eric Heisserer. The Bloodshot movie is reportedly coaxing Jared Leto for the main role.
It’s quite possible the Eternal Warrior might make an appearance or at least be referenced in Archer & Armstrong. The Eternal Warrior or Gild Anni-Padda is the brother of Armstrong. The two have a third brother, Ivar Anni-Padda, who stars in Valiant’s Timewalker comic book series.
In the comics, Eternal Warrior is an immortal guardian whose life’s mission is to protect the Earth and its servant the Geomancer. While Gilad Anni-Padda is granted immortality, he can be killed. However, he returns to life no matter how painful. His arch-enemy is the aptly named Immortal Enemy, whose sole existence is to hunt down and kill Geomancers using his ability to manipulate his foes fears. When the Immortal Enemy kills a Geomancer, it also begins the end of the current civilization.
If Bautista and the folks at Valiant are looking for a good Eternal Warrior script, they don’t need to look far. They could adapt Jeff Lemire, Matt Kindt, and Paolo Rivera’s stunning The Valiant and switch out Bloodshot for the Eternal Warrior. That’s the route I would go. It’s a winner.